Apparatuses, methods, and systems for delivering medication using medication kits

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present disclosure disclose a system for delivering medication. In one aspect, the disclosure is directed a kit that includes a medical dispensing device with a label with a series of zones of varying widths, with each of the zones corresponding to a pre-determined volumetric dose of the drug that is correlated to one of the physical characteristics of a patient. In one specific example, the label is further affixed to the medicine dispensing device such that the smallest dose of the drug to be administered corresponds to a first zone that is proximate an opening through which the drug is to be dispensed.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to and benefit of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/332,412, filed May 5, 2016, and entitled,“Apparatuses, Methods, and Systems for Delivering Medication UsingMedication Kits;” this application is also a continuation-in-part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/282,732, filed Sep. 30, 2016, andentitled “Apparatuses, Methods, and Systems for Delivering MeasuredDoses of Medication,” and a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/392,087, filed Sep. 2, 2015, and entitled“System for Delivering Medication,” which is a national stage entry ofPCT Application No. PCT/US2013/023873, filed Jan. 30, 2013, andentitled, “System for Delivering Medication,” which claims priority toU.S. Provisional Application No. 61/593,674, filed Feb. 1, 2012,entitled “System for Delivering Medication,” and to U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/717,474, filed Oct. 23, 2012, entitled “System forDelivering Medication.” All of the above-referenced applications arehereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to a medicine-dosing device, and moreparticularly to a pre-labeled medicine dosing device and method foradministering appropriate doses of medicine in an emergency or criticalcare situations.

BACKGROUND

Administering proper drug doses accurately and efficiently during anemergency or intensive care situation is of critical importance. This isparticularly of essence in an emergency or critical care situationinvolving pediatric patients as even small dosing mistakes can lead todisastrous consequences. However, even under the best of circumstancesand despite the best of efforts of medical personnel, inadvertentmistakes are sometimes made because of the multitude of steps involvedin the drug administration process. More specifically, in a typicalsituation appropriate drug dosage must first be determined, whichusually involves multi step mathematical calculations. This is followedby plurality of steps involved in the actual drug administrationprocess, which may include selection of a correct medicine to beadministered or medical dosing device to be used. Because each stepcarries with it a potential for introducing an error into the overalldrug administration process, reducing the number of steps that must beexecuted can significantly increase the overall accuracy and efficiencyof the process.

Drug dosages conventionally are determined based on the weight of thepatient. However this method can, at times, be inappropriate andinaccurate especially in the emergency and critical care situations.Thus, at times, patient length can be used, as it allows for a quick andefficient determination of drug dosages, involves the use of a colorcoded measuring tape for determining the length of a patient. Morespecifically, the Broselow® Pediatric Emergency Tape is a well knowninstrument that correlates easily obtainable patient length to drugdosages. The details of the instrument and the method of its use aredisclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,716,888 and 6,132,416 to Broselowwhich are incorporated by reference into the present disclosure. Ingeneral, the method involves measuring and coding patient length to oneof the color zones provided on the tape and using the color-coded lengthto determine a drug dosage to be l administered to the patient. Bysegmenting the tape into plurality of color coded zones rather than thetypically used inches or centimeters, with each color zone correspondingto a given length range, the length of the patient can be easily readand noted as being of a certain color rather than as a specificmeasurement in centimeters or inches. In other words, each color-codedlength zone corresponds to a certain, predetermined range of the actuallengths as measured in either metric or imperial units. For example, thegrey color zone on the tape may correspond to a length range from 42.20cm to 60.79 cm and the pink color zone on the tape may correspond to thelength range from 60.80 cm to 67.79 cm. Thus, a patient whose lengthfalls within the first length range would be coded as gray and a patientwhose length falls within the second length range would be coded aspink. The appropriate drug dosages for the two patients would then beselected from a list of predetermined drug dosages listed on the tape.Other commercially available length/weight-based tapes, such as thePediaTape and the Handtevy tape, are used in a similar fashion.

Although the step of determining drug dosages has been greatlysimplified with the use of aforementioned method, a number of otherissues still remain that often lead to dosing errors or that make themedication administration process inefficient. For instance, in order toarrive at a correct dose of medicine that is to be administered once themedication dosage is determined a number of other calculations, such asthose involving, for example, concentration of the medication, stillneed to be performed. Furthermore, the selection of a correct medicine,an appropriate medicine dosing device or drawing of a correctpredetermined volume of medication into the medicine dosing device caneach introduce an error or slow down the process of administeringmedication to the patient. Even in situations when medication dosagesare based on dosing systems other than the conventional weight basedsystems, such as for example patient age, body surface area or volume,dosing inaccuracies may be observed due to the type of calibrations usedin such systems. In particular, a typically used constant incrementalchange in dosages may result in a loss in needed dosing accuracy whensuch systems are used.

Thus, despite the availability of various techniques designed tosimplify the process of drug dosage determination and administration,there still exists a possibility of errors because of the pressure oftime and the environment under which the treatment is delivered, as wellas the type of dosing systems that are being used. Accordingly, there isneed for a device for, and method of, accurately and efficientlydelivering drugs during an emergency or critical situation, especiallyto pediatric patients.

SUMMARY

Medical treatment kits capable of facilitating treatment of complexmedical problems is disclosed herein. The disclosed kits are eachtypically targeted to treatment of a specific medical problem, suchtreatment requiring that a specific sequence of medications be given ina correct order and dose. In certain high-risk scenarios the medicalproblems involved may place human live in the balance, and mistakes canbe fatal. In these situations correct dosing and delivery can be lifesaving.

The medical treatment kit may provide a vial, including a drug, and amedicine dosing device. The medicine dosing device may be configured toreceive the drug from the vial and deliver the drug to a patient.Further, the dosing device may be marked with coded dosage zones, whichcan have varying widths, and which correspond to predetermined drugdoses. The kit may also include an instrument for associating thepatient with one of the coded dosage zones.

In some embodiments, the kit may include a filling needle that attachesto the medicine dosing device and which is configured to draw the drugto be administered from the vial, so as to fill the medicine dosingdevice with a dose of the drug that corresponds to one of the codeddosage zones. Alternatively, the needle may be permanently attached tothe syringe.

The medicine dosing device may be a syringe, and in someimplementations, the syringe may be permanently attached to the needle.

The vial of the drug and the medicine dosing device may be labelled. Insome embodiments, the vial and medicine dosing device are marked withthe name and/or concentration of the drug. Additionally oralternatively, the vial and the medicine dosing device may be labelledwith a symbol, and the symbol may correspond to the drug and/or theconcentration of the drug.

In some implementations, the instrument for associating the patient withone of the coded dosage zones may be a color coded measuring tape. Thepatient may be measured with the color coded measuring tape in order todetermine the color coded dosage zone to which the medical dosing deviceshould be filled with the drug.

The medical treatment kit may further comprise an instruction sheet,which may provide steps for administering the drug.

The predetermined drug doses and/or the widths of the coded dosage zonesmarked on the medicine dosing device may correspond to the drug that isincluded in the vial.

In some embodiments, the kit may provide a second vial of a second drugand a second medicine dosing device that is configured to receive thesecond drug from the second vial and deliver the second drug to thepatient. The second medicine dosing device may be marked with codeddosage zones of second varying widths that correspond to secondpredetermined drug doses. The second predetermined drug doses and thesecond coded dosage zones may be different than the predetermined drugdoses and coded dosage zones.

Furthermore, the vial and the medicine dosing device may be marked witha first symbol, and the first symbol may correspond to the drug and aconcentration of the drug. The second vial and the second medicinedosing device may be marked with a second symbol, and the second symbolmay correspond to the second drug and a concentration of the seconddrug. The second symbol may be different from the first symbol.

In some implementations, the second drug may be a differentconcentration of the first drug.

In some embodiments, the kit may also include an instruction sheet. Theinstruction sheet may specify that the first drug should be administeredto the patient before the second drug is administered to the patient.

A method of administering a plurality of drugs to a patient is alsodisclosed. The method may include associating the patient with one of aplurality of coded dosage zones using an instrument included within amedical treatment kit. A first vial containing a first drug may beselected from the medical treatment kit, and the first drug may be drawnfrom the first vial so as to fill a first medicine dosing deviceincluded within the medical treatment kit with a first dose of the firstdrug. The first dose may correspond to the one of the first plurality ofcoded dosage zones, wherein the first medicine dosing device is markedwith the first plurality of coded dosage zones, and the first pluralityof coded dosage zones are of first varying widths. A second vialcontaining a second drug may be selected from the medical treatment kit,and the second drug may be drawn from the second vial to as to fill asecond medicine dosing device that is included within the medicaltreatment kit with a second dose of the second drug. The second dose maycorrespond to the one of the second plurality of coded dosage zones,wherein the second medicine dosing device is marked with the secondplurality of coded dosage zones. The second plurality of coded dosagezones may be of second varying widths. The first drug and the seconddrug may be administered to the patient using the first medicine dosingdevice and the second medicine dosing deice. A sequence ofadministration of the first drug and the second drug may be indicated byinstructions that are associated with the medical treatment kit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A-1D are perspective views of a medicine-dosing device accordingto one embodiment of the current disclosure.

FIG. 1E is a perspective view of another embodiment of a medicine-dosingdevice according to an embodiment of the current disclosure.

FIGS. 2A-2D are perspective views of a medicine-dosing device accordingto another embodiment of the current disclosure.

FIGS. 3A-3D are plan views of the labels with the color-coded medicationdoses.

FIG. 4 is flow diagram showing a method of determining and printing thecolor-coded medication dose labels.

FIG. 5 is flow diagram showing a method of administering a medicationusing the disclosed pre-filled and marked medicine-dosing device.

FIG. 6 illustrates a measuring instrument used to determine acolor-coded length of a patient.

FIG. 7A illustrates a method of administering a medication using thedisclosed emergency medical treatment kit that includes the pre-markedmedicine dosing device.

FIG. 7B illustrates the emergency medical treatment kit foradministering a medication according to one embodiment of the currentdisclosure.

FIG. 7C illustrates an exemplary medical treatment kit for administeringmedication to treat anaphylaxis, allergy, and/or asthma.

FIG. 7D illustrates an exemplary medical treatment kit for administeringmedication corresponding to rapid sequence intubation.

FIGS. 7E-F illustrate exemplary embodiments of an adult syringe.

FIGS. 8A-8F includes data showing improvements in the drug deliveryusing the system and methods of the current disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present application describes a device, system, and method foradministering proper medication doses to patients. The device and systemare configured to address the five rights of medicine delivery; that is,giving the right patient the right drug in the right dose by the rightroute at the right time. In particular, a pre-marked medicinedosing/dispensing device designed to minimize medication dosing errors,as well as to improve the overall accuracy and efficiency ofadministering medication, especially in the emergency and critical caresituations, is provided.

As discussed in detail below, in one embodiment the medicine dosingdevice 10 is a syringe 15 that includes an elongate barrel 30 markedwith predetermined color-coded volumetric medicine doses 100 and aplunger 50. The medicine-dosing device, according to one embodiment, maybe further pre-filled with a fluid 105 that corresponds to a medicationto be administered to a patient. A method for determining specificvolumetric doses for a plurality of medications based on differentfactors is also disclosed. In particular, according to one embodimentthe method involves generating labels or marking medical dosing deviceswith doses that are determined based on, for example, volumetriccapacity of medical dosing device and/or drug concentration.

Also, a method for administering proper medication doses using thepre-marked medicine-dosing device is discussed. The method disclosedleads to a significant reduction in the amount of time required todetermine and administer a dose of medication to a patient and at thesame time decreases the risk that such doses will be miscalculated orotherwise erroneously administered.

Device

For a detailed discussion of the first embodiment of the pre-labeledmedicine dosing/dispensing device 10, reference is now made to FIGS.1A-1D. As shown in FIG. 1A, the medicine dosing device 10 according toone embodiment is a syringe 15 that includes a proximal end 25 and adistal end 20 opposite the proximal end. The syringe includes a vessel,such as a syringe barrel 30 at the distal end for holding therein amedicine that is to be dispensed, and a plunger 50 that extendsproximally from an opening 36 located at the proximal end 35 of thesyringe barrel to the proximal end 55 of the plunger at the proximal end25. The syringe barrel and plunger are both manufactured from materialsuch as plastic, glass or any other suitable transparent medical gradematerial that is inert or will not disrupt the chemical balance of thefluid inside.

As illustrated in FIG. 1B the syringe barrel 30 is elongate andsubstantially cylindrical and includes a distal end 31 and a proximalend 35. The syringe barrel further includes and outer circumferentialsurface 37 and an inner circumferential surface 38. A chamber 32 capableof receiving a plunger and retaining a fluid therein is defined by theinner circumferential surface 38 of the barrel between the distal andproximal ends 31 and 35. A flange 33, which can serve as a finger gripto provide for an easier handing of the syringe, is integrally formedwith the proximal end of the barrel and defines an opening 36 forreceiving the plunger. Proximate the opening 36, along the inner surfaceof the barrel, is a ridge 34, shown in FIG. 1C, that prevents theplunger from slipping out of the barrel once it is engaged with thebarrel.

The opening 36 is in communication with the chamber 32 and an orifice 39located at the distal end 20 of the syringe barrel. A tip 40 forattaching a needle, nozzle or tubing for expelling the liquid containedwithin the syringe barrel 30 is integrally formed with the distal end 20of the barrel and in communication with the orifice 39. The tip mayinclude coaxially positioned inner 41 and outer 42 members. According toone embodiment the tip may include a Luer taper fitting. In someembodiments, the tip may be configured based on the type of drug thatthe syringe is used to deliver. For example, oral tips may be used onsyringes configured for medicines that are oral, and in particular, theoral tip may be different from an intravenous (“IV”) or intermuscular(“IM”) tip, thereby ensuring that the medicine is delivered by the rightroute. Similarly, syringes configured for IV and IM drugs may beconfigured with IV and IM tips, respectively, such that they, too, canonly be delivered via the right route.

The plunger 50, according to one embodiment shown in FIG. 1B, includes aplunger rod 51 and a rubber or plastic gasket or stopper 52 attached tothe distal end 56 of the plunger rod. The gasket forms a tight sealbetween the inner surface of the barrel and the plunger in order toprevent the contents of the syringe from escaping out the back of thesyringe. An annular flange 53 is integrally formed with the proximal end55 of the plunger rod. The plunger 50 has an elongate shapecomplementary to that of the chamber 30 and is designed such that it canbe pushed along the chamber (inside of the cylindrical barrel or tube)allowing the syringe to expel fluid through the tip 40 or orifice 39 atthe distal end of the barrel. Alternatively the plunger can include anyother configuration capable of forcing the fluid from inside the chamber30 through the tip 40 or orifice 39.

According to one embodiment of the present disclosure, the medicinedosing device may be prefilled with a pre-selected drug. Initially, whenthe medicine dosing device is prefilled and the syringe is in thepre-medication administration position, the substantial length of theplunger rod extends longitudinally outside of the syringe barrel. Inother words, as shown in FIG. 1A, prior to the administration of themedicine, only the gasket 52 and the distal end 56 of the plunger rodare initially inside the syringe barrel, at the proximal end 35 of thebarrel, with the remaining part of the plunger length outside of thebarrel such that its proximal end 55 is in its most extendedconfiguration.

Alternatively, the medicine dosing device may not be prefilled. Themedicine dosing device may be marked, for example, with a drug name,concentration, volumetric markings, color coded zones, and/or the like.A medical professional may draw the drug (i.e., the drug with the namemarked on the device) with the proper concentration into the medicinedosing device to reach the appropriate volumetric markings and/or colorcoded zones. In some embodiments, the medicine dosing device comes as apart of a kit that includes a medicine vessel containing the drug to beadministered. The drug in the medicine vessel may be drawn into themedicine dosing device immediately prior to the drug administrationprocess. In such embodiments, the plunger rod may remain inside thesyringe barrel until the drug is drawn into the syringe. In order toavoid confusion as to which syringe is to be used with which drug, themedicine dosing devices may be marked clearly. As discussed furtherbelow, such markings may include different colored plungers in order toavoid confusion. As a specific example, a kit containing etomidate andsuccinocholine could have a red plunger for use with etomidate and ablue one for use with succinocholine.

According to another embodiment shown in FIG. 2A, syringe 15 may includean elongate barrel 70 and a plunger 80 marked with predeterminedcolor-coded volumetric medicine doses 100 and prefilled with a fluid 105that corresponds to a medication to be administered to a patient. Inthis configuration, as illustrated in FIG. 2C the syringe barrelincludes an inner tubular body 75 that is generally coaxially alignedwith the larger diameter of the cylindrical barrel. The inner tubularbody has a needle 76 coaxially positioned within the inner tubular bodyand longitudinally aligned with the inner tubular body. The plunger 80,shown in FIG. 2D, includes a substantially cylindrical member or vial 81and a stopper 82. Because the syringe barrel and the plunger areinitially separated, as shown in FIG. 2B, prior to the administration ofthe medication, the plunger 80 needs to be inserted into the proximalend 35 of the syringe barrel, such that the stopper 82 fully engageswith the inner tubular body 75 and the needle 76.

According to yet another embodiment of the current disclosure theplunger and/or plunger stopper can be color coded based on themedication contained in the barrel. Such color coding of the plunger canfurther increase efficiency with which medication is administered andcan make the administration even less error prone as visual inspectionof the plunger can provide a quick verification of the correctness ofthe medication to be administered. Alternatively or in addition to thecolor coded plunger and/or plunger stopper, the plunger and/or plungerstopper may be further marked with the name and/or concentration of thedrug to further limit the possibility that a mistake is made.

Alternatively the medicine dosing device can include any vessel, such asfor example tube, vial, bag or bottle, capable of containing therein andexpelling therefrom a desired medicine. For example, the medicine dosingdevice could be a bag containing an IV fluid. According to thisembodiment, the bag may be marked with a series of color coded zonesalong with the traditional volume markings. When used in combinationwith the traditional volume markings, the color coded zones could serveas a reminder to the medical personnel of a correct volume of eachmedication that can be given to a patient based on the patient's colorzone. The color coded zones may also be used as a key for entering acorrect total volume to be dispensed into the IV pump for a givenmedication.

The description will now turn to the markings on the surface of themedicine dosing device. In case of a syringe, the markings may be placedalong a circumferential surface of the syringe barrel or plunger. Asshown in FIGS. 1 through 3, the markings include a series ofsubstantially translucent bands or zones 100 indicative of the possiblemedicine doses to be administered to a patient. Although the markingsshown in the figures include a series of color coded zones, the markingscould also include zones with different patterns, textures, etc.Regardless of the type of the marking used, the markings are eitherdirectly imprinted, painted, etched or stained on an inside or outsidesurface of the medicine dosing device or a label or sleeve may begenerated that can be affixed or placed over the outer surface of themedicine dosing device. The applied markings are such that the fluidlevel, once the device is filled, can be easily seen through themarkings.

FIG. 3A shows a plurality of labels in accordance with one embodiment ofthe current disclosure. Each label 300 is substantially rectangular inshape and is sized based on the volumetric capacity of the medicaldosing device to which the label is to be affixed. In other words,because of the volumetric variations among the medicine dosing devicesand as a result of variations in the circumferential outer surface ofsuch devices, the size or dimensions of the label is adjustedaccordingly to ensure that it properly covers the outer surface of theof the medical dosing device. For example, when labels are made forsyringes with two different volumetric barrel capacities, the label sizeis either increased or decreased in both length and width to accommodatefor the changes in the outer surface of the barrel.

Along with the changes in the label size, appropriate correspondingchanges to the widths of the color bands or zones that are printed onthe label are also made based on medicine dosing device used to dispensethe medication. More specifically, in order to take into account thevariations in the volume of a medicine-dispensing device, the changes tothe widths of the color bands or zones need to be made in order tomaintain the same volumetric dose of medicine across various medicinedispensing devices. For example, as shown in FIG. 3B, labels for thesame medicine loaded into a 10 cc medicine dispensing device and 5 ccdispensing device have two different widths for each color band or zonein order to keep the medicine doses the same for both medicine dosingdevices. In other words, in order to dispense the same amount ofmedication using a 10 cc dispensing device as compared to using a 5 ccdispensing device, the width of the color bands 351A-359A on the label310 for the 10 cc device would be smaller than the color bands 351B-359Bon the label 305 for the 5 cc dispensing device in order to deliver thesame amount of medication to the patient.

Similarly, the concentration of the medication that is used also affectsthe widths of the color bands or zones printed on the label. Morespecifically, the widths of the color bands or zones are determinedbased on the concentration of the medication, with the medication at ahigher concentration corresponding to a smaller volumetric dose, orsmaller band width, than the medication at a lower concentration.

As depicted in FIG. 3C the label 300 has opposing parallel sides 315 and320 and opposing parallel ends 325 and 330 and includes a series ofconsecutive color bands or zones 351 through 359 of varying widths thatcorrespond to the medication doses for patients with a particularcharacteristic. The characteristic may correspond to patient length (asdiscussed above), patient weight, patient age, patient surfacearea/volume, and/or the like. More specifically, each color band has awidth that is defined by leading 335 and trailing 340 edges that areparallel to the opposing ends 325 and 330 of the label and which, oncethe label is affixed to the medicine dispensing device, corresponds involume to a predetermined dose of medicine appropriate for the patienthaving a characteristic that falls within a predefined color-codedrange. In other words, each color band or zone on the label represents amedication dose correlated to respective color-coded length range,weight range, age range, surface area/volume range, or otherphysiological characteristic.

Still referring to FIG. 3C, according to one embodiment, nine distinctcolor bands 351-359 can be used to distinguish between nine differentdoses of medication corresponding to nine distinct color coded patientcharacteristic ranges. More specifically, each of the colors correspondsto one of nine different doses of a specific medication. As shown in theFIG. 3C, in one particular implementation, band colors may include grey351, pink 352, red 353, purple 354, yellow 355, white 356, blue 357,orange 358 and green 359, with the grey color band corresponding to thesmallest dose of the medication and the green color band correspondingto the largest dose of medication that can be delivered. A solid blacklines 365 may be utilized at the boundaries between the various colorbands or zones to facilitate the process of drug administration as willbe discussed in more detail below. Although, the discussion will be madewith reference to the specific colors shown in the FIGS. 3A-3C, it canbe readily appreciated that other colors or markings may be used.Alternatively or additionally, color names may be printed within theband or zone widths in addition to or instead of colors.

According to yet another embodiment shown in FIG. 3D, a label mayinclude ten different bands of colors with the tenth band 360corresponding to the largest dose of medication that can be delivered.In this particular embodiment the largest dose can correspond to theuniversal dose that can be delivered to any patient whose characteristic(e.g., length, weight, etc.) falls outside of the previously disclosedcolored ranges. For example, the universal label in accordance with thisembodiment can be applied to the universal medicine-dosing device thatcan be used for both pediatric and adult patients and as such eliminatesa need for having two separate medicine dosing systems for the twodistinct patient groups. Although, in the examples provided above aspecific number of color bands have been discussed, it should be notedthat any number of color bands that allow for more precise medicinedosing can be used. In some cases, the previously defined bands or zonescan be further subdivided into sub-band or sub-zone to allow for a moreprecise medicine dosing. As a non-limiting example, in some embodiments,there may be thirty-six markings (sub-zones) within nine color zones.This may increase precision when administering a drug to a patient.

Also, in accordance with another embodiment of the current disclosure,and as shown in FIG. 3C one of the label edges can include a mark 370that would help ensure that the label is correctly affixed or positionedon the syringe or plunger. For example, the label edge that is to bealigned with the distal end of the syringe barrel can be marked in orderto prevent affixing the label to the barrel in the reverse direction,and thus leading to the incorrect doses being administered at a latertime. For example, the edge of the label with the color bandcorresponding to the smallest dose can include a mark at its leadingedge that facilitates the alignment of the label with a distal end ofthe syringe barrel.

Furthermore, in accordance with another embodiment as shown in FIG. 3A,the label may include the name of the medication that is to beadministered or any other information that maybe important to ensuringthat a correct medication would be administered to the patient. Inparticular, the name of the medication can be imprinted along the lengthof the label or any other position as long as it provides for an easyverification of the correctness of the medicine in the medicine-dosingdevice. Additionally, for drugs that are administered at time intervals,the label may be marked with the corresponding time interval, or aseparate calendar, either paper or electronic, may be provided such thatthe patient and/or medical professionals can keep track of dosingintervals.

Method of Determining and Generating Dosing Information

The discussion will now turn to a method 400 for determining themedicine doses for a plurality of medications and medicine dispensingdevices. In one particular example, shown in FIG. 4, the method mayinclude generating of a color-coded dose label that can be applied to aselected medical dosing device. As shown in FIG. 4, the method 400begins at step 401 during which the selection of the medicine for whichthe dosing label is to be generated is made. As related to emergency orcritical care situation some of the most commonly used medicationsinclude, for example, atropine, lidocaine, fentanyl, epinephrine,etomidate, ketamine, succinylcholine, rocuronium, and midazolam to namea few. However, it should be appreciated that the method can be equallyapplied to any other medication that can be administered using thedisclosed medicine dispensing device.

Once the medication for which a label is to be generated is identified,the doses of the drug for each of the color coded characteristic (e.g.,length, weight, etc.) zones previously discussed is determined at step402. Depending on the drug, the width of the color coded zones maydiffer. Table 1 below provides doses in mg for some of the above listeddrugs. As can be seen in Table 1, the doses for each drug differ notonly based on the type of the drug but also based on the length (i.e.,characteristic) of the patient. Thus, for example, as shown in Table 1,a dose for a patient falling within the yellow color-coded length zoneis 26 mg for succinylcholine and 13 mg for rocuronium. In case the samedrug is to be administered to two different patients whose length fallswithin different color coded lengths, two different medication doseswould be used as shown. For example, in the case of epinephrine, withone of the patient lengths being coded as red and the other as blue, thedose of medication to be administered to each patient would be 0.085 mgand 0.21 mg, respectively. Alternatively, doses of the drug may bedetermined based on dosing recommendations other than those based on thelength of the patient, such as, for example, the patient's weight, age,surface area/volume, and/or the like.

After the dose to be administered to the patient is determined at step402, the drug concentration for the drug selected in step 401 is thendetermined at step 403. The concentration of the drug is directlyrelated to the volume that needs to be administered. In other words, asmaller volume of the same medication needs to be administered for asolution with a higher concentration than for a solution with a lowerconcentration.

The next step, step 404, involves selection of a medicine dispensingdevice to which the label is to be applied. As described above, becausemedicine dispensing devices come in various volumetric sizes, a medicinedispensing devices conversion factor that is based on the length andwidth of the medicine dosing device and/or the concentration of themedication may be used to take into account the variations in sizeand/or shape of different medicine dispensing devices for which thelabel is to be generated. Thus, once the medicine dispensing device of aparticular volume is selected for administering the selected medication,a corresponding conversion factor listed in Table 1 can be used in orderto calculate both the individual color band/zone widths and a total bandwidths that correspond to the determined medication doses (step 405).More specifically, the width of each color band/zone that corresponds tothe determined medication dose is calculated based on the dose of thedrug to be administered, the solution concentration and medicinedispensing device volumetric capacity. According to one embodiment allof the calculations may be performed by a computer processing unit (CPU)in response to a user provided input.

Applying of the label to the medicine dosing device may take place oncethe width of each color band or zone is determined and the label isprinted. For instance, when the label is to be applied to a syringehaving a barrel and a plunger, with the barrel designed for holding themedicine that is to be dispensed, the label may be place along the outercircumferential surface of the barrel by aligning one of the edges ofthe label that corresponds to a color band of the smallest dosing withthe distal edge of the syringe barrel of the medicine dispensing device10. Alternatively, in a syringe in which a plunger serves as a vesselfor holding the medicine, the label may be placed along the outercircumferential surface of the plunger by aligning one of the edges ofthe label that corresponds to a color band of the smallest dosing withthe proximal end of the medicine dosing device.

Although the pre-calculated band/zone widths for each of the selectedmedication, medicine dispensing device volumetric capacity and solutionconcentration may be printed on a label that can be applied to themedicine dispensing device, the dosing information may also be directlyimprinted, etched, stained or painted on the medicine dispensing device.Alternatively, the dosing information can be printed on a sleeve thatcan be placed over the medicine dispensing device.

Depending on the embodiment, the appropriately labeled medicine-dosingdevice may be prefilled with a desired medication, with the fluid volumecorresponding to the maximum dose that can be administered to thepatient whose, for example, length falls within the maximum length zone.When the medicine dosing unit is prefilled with the selected medicationthe label can be applied either before or after the medicine dosingdevice is filled. In case the medicine dosing device is filled with aselected medication immediately prior to the medication administrationprocess, as might be the case when the medicine dosing device isincluded as a part of a kit that includes the medical dosing device anda vessel filled with a drug to be administered, an empty pre-labeledmedicine dosing device is supplied for use. Accordingly, a fluid volumethat corresponds to a predetermined dose for a given patient may bedrawn into the pre-labeled medicine dosing device from the containerimmediately prior to drug administration.

TABLE 1 Color Medicine band Color- Concen- Dosing Conversion or zoneTotal Coded Dose tration Device Factor width Distance Drug Length (mg)(mg/ml) (cc) (mm/cc) (mm) (mm) Epinephrine Gray 0.04 0.1 3 16 6.4 6.4Pink 0.065 0.1 3 16 4 10.4 Red 0.085 0.1 3 16 3.2 13.6 Purple 0.1 0.1 316 2.4 16 Yellow 0.13 0.1 3 16 4.8 20.8 White 0.17 0.1 3 16 6.4 27.2Blue 0.21 0.1 3 16 6.4 33.6 Orange 0.27 0.1 3 16 9.6 43.2 Green 0.33 0.13 16 9.6 52.8 Fentanyl Gray 12 50 3 16 3.84 3.84 Pink 20 50 3 16 2.566.4 Red 25 50 3 16 1.6 8 Purple 32 50 3 16 2.24 10.24 Yellow 40 50 3 162.56 12.8 White 50 50 3 16 3.2 16 Blue 63 50 3 16 4.16 20.16 Orange 8050 3 16 5.44 25.6 Green 100 50 3 16 6.4 32 Midazolam-RSI Gray 1.2 1 125.16 6.192 6.129 Pink 2 1 12 5.16 4.128 10.32 Red 2.5 1 12 5.16 2.5812.9 Purple 3.2 1 12 5.16 3.612 16.512 Yellow 4 1 12 5.16 4.128 20.64White 5 1 12 5.16 5.16 25.8 Blue 6.3 1 12 5.16 6.708 32.508 Orange 8 112 5.16 8.772 41.28 Green 10 1 12 5.16 10.32 51.6 Ketamine Gray 6.75 106 8 5.4 5.4 Pink 13 10 6 8 5 10.4 Red 17 10 6 8 3.2 13.6 Purple 20 10 68 2.4 16 Yellow 26 10 6 8 4.8 20.8 White 33 10 6 8 5.6 26.4 Blue 42 10 68 7.2 33.6 Orange 50 10 6 8 6.4 40 Green 66 10 6 8 12.8 52.8 EtomidateGray 0.9 2 5 9 4.05 4.05 Pink 2 2 5 9 4.95 9 Red 2.5 2 5 9 2.25 11.25Purple 3.2 2 5 9 3.15 14.4 Yellow 4 2 5 9 3.6 18 White 5 2 5 9 4.5 22.5Blue 6.3 2 5 9 5.85 28.35 Orange 8 2 5 9 7.65 36 Green 10 2 5 9 9 45Atropine Gray 0.1 0.1 5 9 9 9 Pink 0.13 0.1 5 9 2.7 11.7 Red 0.17 0.1 59 3.6 15.3 Purple 021 0.1 5 9 3.6 18.9 Yellow 0.26 0.1 5 9 4.5 23.4White 0.33 0.1 5 9 6.3 29.7 Blue 0.42 0.1 5 9 8.1 37.8 Orange 0.5 0.1 59 7.2 45 Green 0.5 0.1 5 9 0 45 Succinylcholine Gray 8 20 3 16 6.4 6.4Pink 13 20 3 16 4 10.4 Red 17 20 3 16 3.2 13.6 Purple 20 20 3 16 2.4 16Yellow 26 20 3 16 4.8 20.8 White 30 20 3 16 3.2 24 Blue 40 20 3 16 8 32Orange 53 20 3 16 10.4 42.4 Green 66 20 3 16 10.4 52.8 Rocuronium Gray 410 3 16 6.4 6.4 Pink 7 10 3 16 4.8 11.2 Red 9 10 3 16 3.2 14.4 Purple 1010 3 16 1.6 16 Yellow 13 10 3 16 4.8 20.8 White 16 10 3 16 4.8 25.6 Blue21 10 3 16 8 33.6 Orange 27 10 3 16 9.6 43.2 Green 33 10 3 16 9.6 52.8Lidocaine-RSI Gray 6 20 3 16 4.8 4.8 Pink 10 20 3 16 3.2 8 Red 13 20 316 2.4 10.4 Purple 15 20 3 16 1.6 12 Yellow 20 20 3 16 4 16 White 25 203 16 4 20 Blue 32 20 3 16 5.6 25.6 Orange 40 20 3 16 6.4 32 Green 50 203 16 8 40

Method of Administering Drugs

The medicine dosing device assembled according to the steps discussedabove may be used to safely and efficiently deliver drugs. FIG. 5 is aflow diagram 500 of a method for administering drugs to a patient usingthe disclosed medicine dosing device 10 according to one embodiment. Inthis particular example, the disclosed method provides steps forefficiently administering a selected medicine to a patient from aprefilled and pre-marked medicine dosing device. As shown in the figure,the method begins at step 501 at which a color-coded length or any otherphysical characteristic of the patient is determined. In case of thelength, a Broselow tape or any other similar type of instrument thatprovides color-coded length ranges can be used at this step. As shown inFIG. 6, the color coded length may be obtained by placing a patient 600along the tape 601 and noting the color-coded length of the patient onthe tape. Alternatively, any other physiological characteristic, such asfor example, weight, age, body surface area or volume, that can be colorcoded and correlated to medication doses can be used.

Once the patient length or any other physiological characteristic isdetermined and/or coded to a specific color range, a prefilled medicinedispensing device 10 containing medication to be administered isselected at step 502. The medication selection is verified by eitherreading the name of the medication imprinted along the outer surface ofthe pre-filled medicine dispensing device or by verifying the color ofthe plunger rod as discussed above.

After the color code for the patient length or other characteristic isdetermined and noted and the correctness of the medicine to beadministered is verified, the appropriate dose of medication to bedispensed or its corresponding volume is determined at step 503. Theappropriate dose may be determined by a physician or other medicalprofessional who calculates the appropriate dose based on at least onepatient characteristic. The calculated dose may be a precise amount of adrug to be administered. Additionally, the physician or other medicalprofessional who administers the medication may determine a color codefor the patient based on at least one patient characteristic. Forexample, if the patient length or other characteristic is determined asfalling within the blue color range on the measuring tape, the volume ofmedication to be administered to the patient will be the volume withinthe blue color band or zone on the medicine dosing device.

Because (in this embodiment) the medicine dispensing unit is prefilledwith medication, the appropriate dose of medicine can be obtained bypurging any excess of medication from the prefilled syringe until thedetermined/calculated volume (dose) of the medication is reached asindicated in step 504. In other words, with the prefilled volume of themedicine dispensing device may correspond to the maximum dose that canbe administered to a patient. Therefore, unless the calculated dose isthe maximum possible dose, some of the medication has to be purged fromthe prefilled medicine-dosing device prior to administering of the drug.

Thus, according to one embodiment the plunger is pushed along the insideof the barrel toward the distal end 31 of the barrel until the proximalend of the plunger 54 arrives at the calculated dose. Once theadministering medical professional has purged the excess medicine suchthat the calculated dose is the only medication that remains in themedicine dosing device, the administering medical professional verifiesthat the calculated dose, and the amount of medication that remains inthe medicine dosing device, is within the color coded range determinedfor the patient. For example, in case of the above mentioned patientwhose length or other characteristic was coded as being blue, with theblue band having a leading edge proximate the distal end of the barreland the trailing edge proximate the proximal end of the barrel, theplunger is pushed toward the distal end of the barrel until the distalend of the plunger is aligned with the calculated dose, and then theadministering medical professional ensures that the plunger is betweenthe leading edge and trailing edge of the blue band. Once all the excessfluid is purged from the prefilled dosing device per step 504, thecorrectness of the medicine dose is verified at step 505 and themedicine is then administered to the patient at step 506.

Medication Kit

Administering drugs to pediatric patients is particularly problematic inemergency situations. As discussed above, determining the dosage forpediatric patients involves first determining the number of milligramsof a drug to give to the patient based on their weight and/or height.Next, the number of milliliters of the drug to give the patient must bedetermined based on the concentration of the medication. As a result,there is a risk of human error involved in performing the calculationsnecessary to determine a proper dosage. In addition, errors can arisewhen medical personnel, often in emergency situations, grab or otherwisea select a syringe having different units than those contemplated by thecalculations. These errors can be compounded when treating a patientwith a sequence of drugs, i.e., when multiple medications are beingadministered.

Moreover, in certain cases a sequence of multiple drugs must beadministered in a particular order. So in addition to theabove-mentioned errors, further errors may arise as a result ofdelivering the multiple medications in the incorrect sequence.Furthermore, there is also risk that certain medications may not beimmediately available to the medical staff, and a delay in obtaining themedication can cause harm to the patient. For example, if too muchsedative is delivered to a patient, an antidote may be used to reversethe overdose and prevent harm to the patient. However, when the sedativeis given and the antidote is not readily available, a delay may beharmful to the patient.

Using kits of the type described herein may reduce some or all of theserisks. For example, the use of such kits may help to ensure that correctdosages are administered using the correct timing and sequencing. Inaddition, the use of the present kits helps to ensure that appropriateantidotes and the like are available in the event of any errors indosing or sequencing. In some embodiments, the kits may be availablebased on the drug(s) and/or treatment(s) to be administered.

Embodiments of the kits may include one or more of: a medication, aplurality of medications, medication dosing devices, and/or the like.The kits may also include instructions and an instrument, such as aBroselow tape or any other similar type of device, that providecolor-coded length ranges as discussed above with reference to FIG. 6.For treatment kits that require a sequence of drugs, the medicationsand/or medication dosing devices may be labeled accordingly. Forexample, the first medication to be administered and the correspondingmedication dosing device may be labelled “1,” the second medication andcorresponding medication dosing device may be labelled “2,” and so on.Further, in embodiments where an antidote to the drug (or one of thedrugs) is provided, the antidote medication and the antidote dosingdevice may be labelled accordingly.

Within a kit, the medication may be stored in a vial, and the medicationdosing device may be a syringe, such as the syringe discussed above withrespect to FIGS. 1-3. In some embodiments, one or all of the medicationsmay be stored within a syringe. The syringes may be customized for eachdrug. Syringes with different volumetric capacities may be useddepending on the medication. Further, the label size and width of floorbands or zones varies depending on the drug and/or drug concentration.Accordingly, the name of the medication and the concentration of themedication to be used with that syringe may be printed on the syringe(or on the label that is placed on that syringe).

In some embodiments, the medicine-dosing device can be used toadminister drugs to patients following the method shown in FIG. 7A. Inparticular, the method for administering drugs can begin with theselection of an emergency medical treatment kit that includes a drug tobe administered to the patient (step 701). As shown in FIG. 7B, themedical treatment kit may include a container, such as box, bag, pouchor any other suitable container capable of holding the medicine dosingdevice therein, labeled on the outside surface with the name of themedication contained in the container among other things. For example,according to one embodiment, in addition to having the name of the druglisted on the label, the label may also include information on theconcentration of the drug and/or instruction on how to use the kit toadminister the drug. The medical treatment kit may further include apre-marked medicine dosing device, such as for example a syringe, withthe color-coded zones calibrated to the different drug doses for theselected drug. The syringe markings may also include the name of thedrug that is to be delivered or any other information that may behelpful in ensuring that the drug is correctly delivered to the patient.The medical treatment kit may also include a needle, such as a bluntfilling needle that can be plastic or made of any other suitablematerial, for facilitating drawing of the drug into the syringe. Themedical treatment kit may also contain a container, such a bottle, vial,etc, for holding the drug that is labeled with the drug name on theoutside of the container. The container may include a stopper or a lidthat helps to contain the drug inside the container. The stopper or lidmay be made from, for example, rubber or any other suitable materialthat can be easily punctured with the filling needle, such that the drugfrom the container can be easily drawn into the medicine-dosing device.

If more than one drug is included in the kit, the corresponding vialsand syringes for each drug may be positioned within the packaging toensure that there is no confusion as to which vial corresponds to whichsyringe. Additionally, differently colored plungers may be used in orderto ensure that the correct medication is given to the patient in thecorrect order. For example, in a situation where two drugs are beingadministered in a specified order, the kit may include a first drug in afirst vial with a first syringe marked with the color zones for thefirst drug, and a second drug in a second vial with a second syringemarked with the color zones for the second drug. To ensure that thefirst vial and first syringe do not get confused with the second vialand second syringe, the plungers in the syringes may be colored. Thecolor of the label and/or lid of the first vial may be marked with thesame color as the plunger of the first syringe, and the color of thelabel and/or lid of the second vial may be marked with the same color asthe plunger of the second syringe. This way, when the drug is beingadministered, the administrating medical professional can easily to makesure that the correct vial/drug-syringe combination is being used.

Alternatively or additionally, when the drugs need to be delivered in aparticular order, the ends of the plungers may be marked numerically toindicate the order in which the drugs are to be delivered. For example,if the first drug to be administered has a green plunger and the seconddrug to be administered has a yellow plunger, the end of the greenplunger may have a number “1” on the end and the end of the yellowplunger may have a number “2” on the end. The vials may also be markednumerically.

In case drug doses are based on patient's length, the color-coded lengthof the patient may be determined (step 702) using an instrument such asa Broselow tape or any other similar type of device that providescolor-coded length ranges as discussed above with reference to FIG. 6.Alternatively, other patient characteristics may be used to determine acolor coded range. Appropriate volume of the drug to be administered maybe subsequently determined based on the patient length, and the patientlength may be correlated to a color code (step 703). The determined drugvolume may be then drawn into the medicine-dosing device (step 704), andthe administering medical professional verifies that the determined drugvolume is within the color code corresponding to the patient (step 705).Once the dose is verified, the drug can then be administered to thepatient (step 706). According to one embodiment as shown in FIG. 7B,when the medicine-dosing device is a syringe with a pre-attached fillingneedle, the filling needle might be disposed of prior to theadministration of the medication.

FIG. 7C shows an exemplary kit 720 that may be configured to treatanaphylaxis. It may also treat allergies and/or asthma. Such a kit maycontain a vial 725 of epinephrine that has a certain concentration. Forexample, the epinephrine may have a concentration of 1:1000 mg/ml. Asyringe 730 (dosing device) may be provided with permanent needleattached thereto in order to ensure the medication is not mistakenlygiven intravenously. The syringe may have a maximum volume of 0.33 mL.The maximum volume of the syringe may be the maximum pediatric dose ofepinephrine, or the maximum volume may be slightly larger than themaximum pediatric dose of epinephrine. The syringe is marked, such aswith the color coding discussed above, to indicate the correct dose. Insome embodiments, the correct dose may be determined based on thechild's weight, age, surface area, and/or length. An instrument 735,such as a Broselow tape or any other similar type of device, thatprovides color-coded length ranges (e.g., as discussed above withreference to FIG. 6) may also be included in the kit. Instructions 740may also be included in the kit. The kit may be packaged within acontainer/package 745. In some embodiments, at least a front side of thepackaging may be clear, hard plastic so that the contents are visibleand in a particular order.

Another exemplary kit 750 is shown in FIG. 7D. The kit 750 may beconfigured for rapid sequence intubation, which may involve a sequenceof medications, such as etomidate, succinopcholine, atropine, andlidocaine. In the embodiment of FIG. 7D, the kit 750 includes threemedications. Each medication may be stored in a vial 755 a, 755 b, 755c, and each vial 755 a, 755 b, 755 c has a corresponding syringe 760 a,760 b, 760 c. The syringes 760 a, 760 b, 760 c are each calibrated toone of the medications, where syringe 760 a is calibrated to themedication in vial 755 a, syringe 760 b is calibrated to the medicationin vial 755 b, and syringe 760 c is calibrated to the medication in vial755 c. The calibration is based on color coding, where the color codingcorrelates to the child's weight, age, surface area, and/or length. Insome embodiments, an instrument 765, such as a Broselow tape or anyother similar type of device, that provides color-coded length ranges(e.g., as discussed above with reference to FIG. 6) may also be includedin the kit. The instrument 765 is used to determine the color range towhich the vial should be filled with the medication. Instructions 770may also be provided. The instructions 770 may list one or more of thefollowing steps: measure the child's weight, age, surface area, and/orlength; determine a color based on the measurement; give medication 1based on the appropriate color; give medication 2 based on theappropriate color; give medication 3 based on the appropriate color.

In some embodiments, each corresponding vial-syringe pair may beincluded within another set of packaging in order to ensure that thevial-syringe pairs are not confused. Alternatively or in addition, thevial-syringe pairs may be labelled numerically (e.g., the vial with thefirst medication and the corresponding syringe are each labelled withthe number 1 and so on) and/or the syringe may be marked with thecorresponding drug and concentration. The vial-syringe pairs may also bemarked with a unique symbol, wherein the unique symbol is only used forthat vial-syringe match or wherein the unique symbol is only used for asingle drug at a particular concentration. Thus, the personadministering the drug should check to ensure that the symbol, number,etc. match before administering the drug.

Kits may be configured to contain various combinations of medication forany pediatric medical condition. Another exemplary kit may be asupra-ventricular tachycardia kit, which may include a vial of atropinein a correct concentration, a syringe for a first dose at 1×mg/kg, asecond syringe for a second dose at 2×mg/kg, instructions, a containerto keep the contents in order, and/or the like. Other exemplary kits maybe configured for moderate sedation, acute pain, and other procedures.

In some implementations, kits may also be generated to treat adults,such as treatments/medications that vary based on the size, weight, etc.of the adult. For some medications, adult doses are universal; forothers, doses may differ based on patient size. The concept is similarto that of pediatric patients, where a larger patient gets a bigger doseand a smaller patient gets a smaller dose. The size differentiation maybe based on patient weight, length, surface area, age, and/or the like.For example, some medications have two doses—one for large adults, andone for small adults. Thus, drug delivery device may have two zones.Other medications may require more precision based on patient size, andtherefore the drug delivery device may have more than two zones. In someimplementations, the zones may be color coded (see FIG. 7E); in otherimplementations, the zones may be clear (see FIG. 7F).

Kits similar to those discussed above may be configured to contain vialsand/or syringes configured for adults instead of children. Thus, thedrug devices, drugs, and/or drug concentrations may be configured foradults. Kits may be clearly labeled to indicate that they are adult kitsor pediatric kits.

In another embodiment, kits may include both a pediatric syringe and anadult syringe. Thus, for a medication where adults and children take thesame drug and drug concentration, the kit may include a vial of thedrug, a corresponding syringe for pediatric patients, and acorresponding syringe for adult patients. The syringes may be clearlylabeled as being an adult syringe or pediatric syringe. The syringes mayalso have a color or symbol designation to indicate adult or pediatricsyringe. For example, adult syringes may have a blue plunger andpediatric syringes may have a red plunger, and/or adult syringes may belabelled “A” for adult and pediatric syringes may be labeled “P” forpediatric or “C” for child(ren)).

Examples of Improvements Achieved by Using the Systems and MethodsDisclosed Herein

As disclosed with reference to all the figures, the pre-labeled medicinedispensing device and the method of making and using it offers severaladvantages over the currently used systems and methods. First, thepre-marked medicine dispensing device allows to administer medicationmore accurately as compared to any of the currently available systems.Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, eliminating the step ofcalculating doses that need to be administered in the high stressenvironment, as well as eliminating the steps of selecting appropriatemedicine dosing device helps to eliminate critical dosing errors, suchas critical over dose or critical under dose errors, that usually arisewhen conventional devices and methods are used. Also, frequency andseverity of non-critical errors as compared to the traditional methodscan be reduced as shown in FIGS. 8C and 8D. Lastly, as shown in FIGS. 8Eand 8F, time to prepare and deliver medication, as well as time todeliver medications when preparing for rapid sequence intubations (RSI)may be significantly reduced when the medicine-dosing device accordingto the current disclosure is used as compared to the conventionaldevices. As such, the pre-labeled medicine dispensing device designedand used in accordance with the disclosed embodiments provides for moresimplified, accurate and efficient drug delivery in emergency andcritical care situations.

Example embodiments of the devices, systems and methods have beendescribed herein. As may be noted elsewhere, these embodiments have beendescribed for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting. Otherembodiments are possible and are covered by the disclosure, which willbe apparent from the teachings contained herein. Thus, the breadth andscope of the disclosure should not be limited by any of theabove-described embodiments but should be defined only in accordancewith claims supported by the present disclosure and their equivalents.Moreover, embodiments of the subject disclosure may include methods,systems and devices which may further include any and allelements/features from any other disclosed methods, systems, anddevices, including any and all features corresponding to scientific dataexchange. In other words, features from one and/or another disclosedembodiment may be interchangeable with features from other disclosedembodiments, which, in turn, correspond to yet other embodiments.Furthermore, one or more features/elements of disclosed embodiments maybe removed and still result in patentable subject matter (and thus,resulting in yet more embodiments of the subject disclosure). Stillfurther, some embodiments are distinguishable from the prior art due tosuch embodiments specifically lacking one or more features which arefound in the prior art. In other words, claims to some embodiments ofthe disclosure may include one or more negative limitations tospecifically note that the claimed embodiment lacks at least onestructure, element, and/or feature that is disclosed in the prior art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A medical treatment kit comprising: a vialincluding a drug; a medicine dosing device configured to receive thedrug from the vial and deliver the drug to a patient, the medicinedosing device being marked with coded dosage zones of varying widthscorresponding to predetermined drug doses; and an instrument forassociating the patient with one of the coded dosage zones.
 2. Themedical treatment kit of claim 1, further comprising: a filling needlefor attaching to the medicine dosing device and for drawing the drug tobe administered from the vial so as to fill the medicine dosing devicewith a dose of the drug corresponding to the one of the coded dosagezones.
 3. The medical treatment kit of claim 1, wherein the medicinedosing device is a syringe.
 4. The medical treatment kit of claim 3,wherein the syringe is permanently attached to a needle.
 5. The medicaltreatment kit of claim 1, wherein the vial of the drug and the medicinedosing device are labelled with a name of the drug.
 6. The medicaltreatment kit of claim 5, wherein the vial of the drug and the medicinedosing device are labelled with the concentration of the drug.
 7. Themedical treatment kit of claim 1, wherein the vial of the drug and themedicine dosing device are each marked with a symbol, said symbolcorresponding to the drug and a concentration of the drug.
 8. Themedical treatment kit of claim 1, wherein the instrument is a colorcoded measuring tape.
 9. The medical treatment kit of claim 8, whereinthe patient is measured with the color coded measuring tape to determinethe coded dosage zone to which the medical dosing device should befilled with the drug.
 10. The medical treatment kit of claim 1, furthercomprising an instruction sheet including steps for administering thedrug.
 11. The medical treatment kit of claim 1, wherein thepredetermined drug doses and the widths of the coded dosage zonescorrespond to the drug.
 12. The medical treatment kit of claim 1,further comprising: a second vial of a second drug; a second medicinedosing device configured to receive the second drug from the second vialand deliver the second drug to the patient, the second medicine dosingdevice being marked with coded dosage zones of second varying widthscorresponding to second predetermined drug doses.
 13. The medicaltreatment kit of claim 12, wherein the second predetermined drug dosesand second coded dosage zones are different from the predetermined drugdoses and coded dosage zones.
 14. The medical treatment kit of claim 12,wherein: the vial and the medicine dosing device are each marked with afirst symbol, said first symbol corresponding to the drug and aconcentration of the drug; and the second vial and the second medicinedosing device are each marked with a second symbol, said second symbolcorresponding to the second drug and a concentration of the second drug,and wherein the second symbol is different from the first symbol. 15.The medical treatment kit of claim 12, wherein the second drug is adifferent concentration of the first drug.
 16. The medical treatment kitof claim 12, further including an instruction sheet specifying that thefirst drug is to be administered to the patient before the second drugis administered to the patient.
 17. A method of administering aplurality of drugs to a patient, the method comprising: associating,using an instrument included within a medical treatment kit, the patientwith one of a first plurality of coded dosage zones; selecting, from themedical treatment kit, a first vial containing a first drug; drawing thefirst drug from the first vial so as to fill a first medicine dosingdevice included within the medical treatment kit with a first dose ofthe first drug wherein the first dose corresponds to the one of thefirst plurality of coded dosage zones, the first medicine dosing devicebeing marked the first plurality of coded dosage zones wherein the firstplurality of coded dosage zones are of first varying widths; selecting,from the medical treatment kit, a second vial containing a second drug;drawing the second drug from the second vial so as to fill a secondmedicine dosing device included within the medical treatment kit with asecond dose of the second drug wherein the second dose corresponds tothe one of the second plurality of coded dosage zones, the secondmedicine dosing device being marked the second plurality of coded dosagezones wherein the second plurality of coded dosage zones are of secondvarying widths; administering the first drug and the second drug to thepatient using the first medicine dosing device and the second medicinedosing device wherein a sequence of administration of the first drug andthe second drug is indicated by instructions associated with the medicaltreatment kit.